JPL opens its doors to public

Julie Brugarolas, 2, of Los Angeles, watches as a Mars Rover model begins to ride over her and her brother Tim, 6, Saturday, May 15, 2010 during JPL's yearly open house in Pasadena. Their father Paul is an engineer at JPL.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE - Thousands of visitors descended on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory campus Saturday for the annual open house event that allows the public to have a glimpse of state-of-the- art space exploration technology.

Most of the visitors were parents with young children in tow, hoping some of the science would rub off on them.

"We came just to show them outer space," said Joo Lee, who brought his son, Andrew, and daughter, Annabelle, from El Segundo for their first open house event.

A small 8-wheeled rover prototype rolled over small giggling children and a few parents - a perennial open house favorite. These prototypes were built in the 1990s, according to Sarah Marcotte, who performed the demonstration.

"Our Mars rovers don't normally run over fairies but they will today," Marcotte said, as she steered the rover over the wriggling children, some of them dressed in costumes.

Students from all over Los Angeles County were bused in for their science classes so they could ask the experts their most pressing questions about the universe.

"It's crazy, the same laws that apply on Earth, apply to everywhere in the universe," said Charlene Ergina, 13, from Long Beach.

Todd Barber, the lead propulsion expert on the JPL-managed Cassini mission to Mars, led a group of girls from Hudson School in Long Beach, including Charlene, on a personal tour.

Barber said the girls peppered him with questions about engineering and science for half of the morning.